Articles Posted in Wrongful Death

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A man who says he was acting compassionately when he shot his wife to death because she had an incurable disease has been convicted of murdering her. John Roberts killed his wife while she slept on February 2, 2008. He is also the defendant in an Oregon wrongful death complaint that was brought by her family.

According to Gresham police, Roberts says he shot Virginia because she asked to die. His 51-year-old wife had Lou Gehrig’s disease (myotrophic lateral) and he claims she no longer wanted to live.

Prosecutors, however, say that Virginia was never diagnosed with ALS, no proof exists that she wanted him to murder her, and that Roberts had spent their life savings. They disputed his claim that the shooting was an assisted suicide—state law considers this action manslaughter when a doctor isn’t involved.

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In Oregon, Portland residents Teresa and Jack Daggett are suing a Washington State clinic for their daughter’s overdose death. Their Multnomah County wrongful death lawsuit is seeking $1.3 million from Payette Clinic.

The couple’s 18-year-old daughter, Rachel Daggett, died last December after she smoked a synthetic narcotic pill. Oregon police traced the pill to two Troutdale brothers. One of the brothers, Ronald Zaloznik, says he became addicted to oxycodone after a nurse practitioner gave him a prescription. The younger brother, 18-year-old Tyler, says that he also used pills and opiates.

In their Oregon wrongful death complaint, the Daggetts are accusing the clinic of consciously disregarding the risks when it prescribed oxycodone to Ronald. The two brothers and Rachel’s friend, Shane Douglas Gill, pleaded guilty to possession and delivery of controlled substances.

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The parents of a 3-year-old boy that died after surgery have agreed on a $200,000 Portland, Oregon wrongful death settlement with the doctor that performed the procedure. Ian McClellan died from septic shock 8 days after Dr. Jayant Patel perforated the 3-year-old’s bowel while trying to insert a feeding tube inside him. The surgical malpractice incident took place on February 5, 1999.

This is not the first Oregon medical malpractice lawsuit naming Patel as a defendant. Also, in 2000 the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners barred the surgeon from working again in the state. He eventually moved to Australia where he kept performing surgeries. He has been charged with manslaughter in that country over the deaths of three patients. Patel has been called “Dr. Death.”

Per Matthew and Anna Maria McClellan’s Oregon medical malpractice involving fatal injuries to minors lawsuit that they filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, Patel discovered the perforation the day after the surgery when he opened up their son again. They say that Patel and the hospitals told them that Ian died because he developed a postoperative infection. It wasn’t until April 15, 2005 when the Oregonian began publishing a number of articles about Patel’s work that they discovered the real reason their son died. The McClellans had originally sued Patel and the hospitals for $1.55 million.

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Last December, our Portland, Oregon personal injury law firm blog post about a wrongful death case filed against the city of Sandy and a number of individuals over the police shooting death of a Gresham man. This week, an announcement was made that the family of 27-year-old Fouad Kaady has reached a $1 million settlement with the Oregon city and former police officer William J. Bergin.

Kaady was burned, naked, and bleeding when Officer Bergin and Clackamas County sheriff’s Deputy David E. Willard approached him on September 8, 2005. Kaady reportedly was behaving erratically and would not cooperate with police. He had also just rear-ended three motor vehicles and damaged the vehicle he was driving. According to witnesses, Kaady, who has a history of mental illness, was making wolf-like sounds.

To apprehend Kaady, police at first used a stun gun and shocked him several times. They then shot him seven times after he jumped on top of a police car.

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In Multnomah County Circuit Court, the family of a woman who died after the kayak she was riding in on the Rogue River capsized last summer is suing Echo River Trips for her Oregon wrongful death. Cynthia Lee Von Tungeln, was 52.

According to the wrongful death complaint, Von Tungeln was kayaking with a large guided party from Grave Creek to Foster Bar on June 27, 2008 when the inflatable raft that she and another woman were in capsized as they tried to get past Picket Fence, which is a series of rocks. The family’s lawsuit contends that they became trapped in the “unusually high flow” and while Von Tungeln was able to push the other woman out of the area where the water swirled against the rocks, the 52-year-old woman stayed trapped under the water. Von Tungeln drowned and her body couldn’t be recovered until it finally washed free several days after her death.

Von Tungeln’s parents and two adult daughters are seeking at least $4 million for her wrongful death: $1.5 million for lost wages, savings, and services, $2 million for loss of companionship, $500,000 for Von Tungeln’s anguish when she was thrown from the kayak and got caught under the water, and memorial and burial costs.

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The parents of 15-year-old Austin Miller have reached an Oregon wrongful death settlement with TriMet over their son’s bicycle accident death. Austin died on February 11, 2008 when he was struck by a bus while riding a bicycle. Under the terms of the agreement, TriMet will pay Michael and Stephanie Miller $200,000 with an additional $175,000 pending adjudication.

TriMet has argued that the Oregon Tort Claims Act caps its liability at $200,000 and that is the maximum they should owe for Austin’s death. Personal injury attorneys for the Millers, however, have pointed out that the state’s current tort claims cap is now $400,000.

The Miller family’s Oregon wrongful death complaint accuses a TriMet bus driver of acting negligently when driving into the bike lane where Austin was riding his bicycle. Their wrongful death lawyer has said that the bus driver can be overheard in an audio recording telling TriMet’s dispatch that she thought she gave Austin enough space.

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In Oregon, the family of Tracey Sparling is suing a cement truck driver and his employer for her wrongful death. Sparling, 19, sustained fatal crush injuries on October 11, 2007 after her bicycle was struck by the large truck. The deadly Portland truck accident occurred at the intersection of Burnside and Southwest 14th Avenue.

Both Sparling and truck driver Timothy Wiles were stopped at a red light. Sparling was stopped in a bike lane located on the right side of the road in an area that Wiles couldn’t see.

When the light turned green, the trucker turned right. Sparling was crushed under the truck’s back wheels. The cement truck, which weighed 40,000 pounds, belonged to Rinker Materials, which was purchased by Cemex Corp.

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In Multnomah County, the family of Ruth Reimann has filed an Oregon wrongful death lawsuit. Reimann, of Portland, was fatally injured on August 4, 2008 when a small plane crashed into the vacation home they were staying at in the coastal town of Gearhart. Her children – Chris, 13, Sarah, 11, and Julia, 10 – were injured in, but survived, the tragedy.

Early that morning, the Cessna 172 dove through the house and burst into flames. Following the airplane accident, Ruth spent weeks in Portland at the Oregon Burn Center at Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health for treatment of their burn injuries before she died.

Also killed in the Oregon airplane accident were pilot Jason Ketcheson, passenger Frank Toohey, and siblings 12-year-old Hesam Farrar Masoudi and 8-year-old Grace Masoudi. The children were at the home of the Reimanns when the deadly aviation accident happened.

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A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in an incident involving an Oregon woman who went missing and was found dead close to Wynooche Lake a little over two years ago. Beverly Johnson disappeared on January 2, 2007. Her body was found 11 days later.

Now, Delbert Johnson, Beverly’s husband, and her estate are suing the Oregon city of Beaverton and the state of Washington for $3 million. Delbert is seeking $2.5 million for damages he claims he has suffered due to loss of mutual affection, love, and companionship. Beverly’s estate is asking for half a million dollars for the fear, anguish, thirst, hunger, and pain that she likely felt after she got lost. According to a medical examiner’s report, Beverly, who ended up getting locked out of her vehicle, died of hypothermia.

On the afternoon of the 69-year-old’s disappearance, Delbert reported that she failed to return home from a visit to the Beaverton Library. He says that the defendants allowed his wife to die because of the way they handled the search for her.

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Police in Oregon say alcohol may have been a factor in a deadly Eugene auto accident that left 10-year-old Jakobi Mulgrave in serious condition and killed four other people on Wednesday. Injured in the Oregon auto wreck was the boy’s mother, 34-year-old Heather Yvonne Mulgrave, 10-year-old Jaziah Vermilyea, 34-year-old Connie Marie Vermilyea, and 11-year-old Nima Gibba. All of the victims were from Springfield, except for Nima, who is a Eugene resident.

The accident occurred at about 9:16pm at night when the Toyota Highlander carrying the victims and an Isuzu Rodeo collided. Both vehicles were totaled in the crash. The driver of the Isuzu, 24-year-old Eugene motorist Matthew N Ellmers, was listed in serious condition at a Springfield hospital as of yesterday.

The deadly auto crash happened at an intersection where there is a 4-way traffic signal. One teenager says the cement building she was in shook when the vehicles collided. The Highlander reportedly flipped into the air following the crash and drove into a utility pole.

According to The Register-Guard, multi-vehicle crashes don’t happen very often in Eugene. The last time local police investigated an auto accident death involving more than one victim was in 1978.

According to the state’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, there were five Oregon multi-vehicle accidents involving at least four fatalities in 2007 and 2008.

Multi-Vehicle Collisions
Proving liability and obtaining personal injury or wrongful death recovery in a multi-vehicle crash can be complicated—unless you are working with an experienced Oregon car accident lawyer who knows how to properly investigate your case.

Accident reconstructionists, medical specialists, accident investigators, and other experts may have to be called in to investigate all of the evidence to determine fault and figure out how much compensation you should receive. If you or someone you love was injured in a multi-vehicle Oregon auto accident—do NOT try to negotiate an agreement with the other parties’ insurance companies or their legal representatives without seeking your own legal counsel.

Police need public’s help with investigation of crash that killed 4, KVAL, January 23, 2009
Accident Touched Lives of Many, The Register-Guard, January 23, 2009

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